To celebrate the forthcoming six-month anniversary of the show, this week was the first of what will be seven special shows & special #1 was naturally all about number ones...

A top seller on both sides of the Atlantic, "The Joker" got us underway - it was a US #1 in 1973 but it took until 1990 to hit the top in the UK. Bowie's "Fame" was a US #1 single in 1975 & it was also re-released in 1990, when it reached #12 in the UK, a little bit like Elton's "Philadelphia Freedom" which was a US #1 & UK #12 in 1975...

It may have been originally intended for the Eurovision Song Contest, but The Rubettes turned "Sugar Baby Love" into a huge #1 smash in the UK & across Europe in 1974 & Mud had a massive party #1 with "Tiger Feet" the same year. Chicory Tip had the 1st UK #1 to prominently feature a synthesiser, knocking T.Rex's 3rd #1 off the top of the charts in the process. Sticking with glam rock, we heard Slade's 5th UK #1, Mungo Jerry's 2nd UK #1 (both "Baby Jump" & the earlier "In The Summertime" were released as 33rpm singles) & Wizzard's 2nd UK #1 featured backing vocals from "The Bleach Boys & The Suedettes"…

We had a bit of a sing-song with US #1 "You're Sixteen" by Ringo (& Paul McCartney on kazoo), with Simon & Garfunkel (from their massive "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album, which was #1 just about everywhere) & with Eric Clapton's only US #1. Then we chilled out with 10cc, whose "I'm Not In Love" was a UK #1, but one of the songs that kept it off the top in America was "One Of These Nights" by The Eagles, the title track of what was a US #1 album too…

One of my all-time favourite album tracks is Paul McCartney's "Bluebird", taken from the #1 album "Band On The Run" (it was a single in continental Europe, but not in the UK or US). Macca once described "Without You", taken to the top on both sides of the Atlantic by Harry Nilsson, as "…the killer song of all time…" & he wasn't wrong - writers Pete Ham & Tom Evans both sadly later committed suicide. "Maggie May" was also #1 in both the UK & the US - 5 weeks each…

Gordon Lightfoot was an odd-one-out on the show, as he reached #1 in Canada with, but The Pretenders were also odd-ones-out because they gave us the first new UK #1 of the 1980's (it was released in the 70's). Blondie & Ian Dury brought some European languages to the show, while The Police & Gary Numan completed a superb late 70's segment…

Our final lap was all about top selling albums: "Baba O'Riley" is taken from the 1971 album "Who's Next" & then we had three album title tracks in a row from Alice Cooper, Yes & Pink Floyd, which left just enough time to squeeze in a classic rock/pop UK #1 from David Essex - yeah!

The full playlist for this weeks show was as follows:

1

Steve Miller Band

The Joker

2

David Bowie

Fame

3

Elton John

Philadelphia Freedom

4

The Rubettes

Sugar Baby Love

5

Mud

Tiger Feet

6

Chicory Tip

Son Of My Father

7

T. Rex

Telegram Sam

8

Slade

Skweeze Me Pleeze Me

9

Mungo Jerry

Baby Jump

10

Wizzard

Angel Fingers

11

Ringo Starr

You're Sixteen

12

Simon & Garfunkel

Why Don't You Write Me

13

Eric Clapton

I Shot The Sheriff

14

10cc

I'm Not In Love

15

The Eagles

One Of These Nights

16

Paul McCartney & Wings

Bluebird

17

Nilsson

Without You

18

Gordon Lightfoot

If You Could Read My Mind

19

Rod Stewart

Maggie May

20

The Pretenders

Brass In Pocket

21

The Police

Message In A Bottle

22

Blondie

Sunday Girl

23

Ian Dury & The Blockheads

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

24

Gary Numan

Cars

25

The Who

Baba O'Riley

26

Alice Cooper

Billion Dollar Babies

27

Yes

Going For The One

28

Pink Floyd

Wish You Were Here

29

David Essex

Gonna Make You A Star

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